According to research by TGI, bus advertising is the most prominent out-of-home (OOH) advertising medium, with 61% of consumers reporting that they had seen at least one form of bus advertising in the last week.
With such ubiquity and high levels of consumer engagement, bus adverts are one of the best ways to get your message out there. For businesses of all sizes, they provide an affordable option for generating leads and building valuable brand awareness.
By offering unparalleled convenience and affordability, buses are a vital part of the UK’s public transport network, with 29% of adults using bus services for at least an hour a week. As a result of this extraordinary user base, the bus advertising industry is now worth in excess of £2 billion per year; for businesses of all sizes, this advertising opportunity is simply too big to ignore.
However, for the small- and mid-sized business, finding a route into bus and transit advertising can prove difficult—that’s where an advertising agency like The Bank comes in! Our media buying professionals have the knowledge, experience and expertise to help you achieve your bus advertising goals.
Give us a call today to see how we can help your company. In the meantime, why not take a look at our guide to all things related to bus advertising:
Bus Advertising: The Benefits
There are many great reasons to consider bus promotion as part of your ad campaign; here are just a few:
Audience (Not Just Bus Passengers!)
Bus adverts are seen by a huge audience, with 30 million people across the UK seeing bus ads in the last seven days. And that’s not just passengers: from people waiting at bus stops, to pedestrians on the high street, to car drivers—they are all potential consumers!
What’s more, bus advertising targets a huge range of consumer demographics. 35% of 25 to 34-year-olds have seen advertising on either the inside or outside of a bus in the last week, while bus advertising in general has been found extremely effective at marketing to a C2DE audience. Furthermore, when it comes to rear advertising, ads on buses are seen by the taxi driver just as often as the Porsche driver; this huge variability in audience makes bus advertising one of the best OOH advertising formats around.
Cost
With the myriad formats available to advertisers, bus advertising offers fantastic potential for scalability. For the small- or mid-sized business, there are a number of low-risk, low-investment routes and printing options available, while for the larger company there is the option to run full wraps on buses across an entire region.
What’s more, research has shown that certain bus ad formats (headliners in particular) often deliver to advertisers added overshow value once their official campaign has ended.
Visibility
Buses are the ultimate mobile billboard: week-in and week-out, they travel from local towns, suburbs and rural locations, all the way to city centre and shopping areas that other traffic can’t go. For external bus ads, they are all the while promoting your brand and building consumer awareness.
In many cases, advertising in these high-footfall locations would be out-of-reach to a local business. Billboards in high street and shopping areas, for example, often command extremely high prices. For a company on a tight advertising budget, bus advertising allows for the option to hit these areas at a low cost.
Network
The vast majority of bus journeys in the UK are handled by one of the “Top 5” operators: Arriva, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead, National Express, and Stagecoach. These businesses operate routes throughout the UK, from London to Glasgow.
At The Bank, our media buying professionals are able to build connections between your brands with these companies, allowing your campaigns to sprawl out from the local area without the need to negotiate complex new deals.
Environmentally-Friendly (Not Just for the Juice Bars!)
Buses emit far less CO2 than a car or personal vehicle, and take up far less space on the road. As a modern business, you want to do all you can to stay eco-friendly – bus advertising is a fantastic way to show green credentials, as well as your support for public transportation.
Bus and Transit Advertising: Finding the Right Creative Options
When it comes to bus advertising, there are a huge number of media options available. But the first thing to decide is where you want your ads to appear: bus exterior, bus interior or bus shelter. Let’s look at these options in more depth:
Bus Exterior
Streeliners
Nicknamed “the pedestrians’ notice board”, streetliners are positioned at eye-level on the side of the bus. Commonly 10–13 feet in length, the streetliner works best for simple, clear, concise printed media and brand messaging.
Super Sides and T-Sides
The most popular form of bus advertising is the super side, which adorns most commercial double-decker buses and provides excellent visibility throughout towns and cities. T-sides are an option for certain double-decker buses, allowing for additional area and design possibilities.
Full-Side
If you want your message to have the most impact, a full-side ad is ideal. Full side adverts cover the entire side of the bus (including glass window and door areas), using a high-quality perforated cast vinyl to create a stunning, eye-catching finish.
Super Square
Super square ads employ the same vinyl technology as full sides, but with only a portion of the bus’ side covered. This allows the same creative potential as a whole side, but with less up-front investment.
Bus Rears and Bus Backs
Bus rears (or bus backs) are ad panels placed on the rear side of a bus. Bus rear advertisements are great for clients who want to target a wide range of consumers at a relatively low cost.
Super Rears and Mega Rears
Like full sides and super squares, super rears (single-decker) and mega rears (double-decker) utilise printed cast vinyl to cover the whole back side of the bus.
For more info on The Bank’s bus exterior advertising services, give us a call, or click here.
Bus Interior
Headliners
Headliner panels are commonly placed above a window, flanking either side of the bus where the walls meet the ceiling. These lightweight ad panels offer low production costs, easy installation, and, in many cases, significant overshow value once your official campaign has ended.
Bus Seat Advertising
You might wonder how it’s possible to advertise on a bus seat! Well, from branded headrests to digital screens, bus seat advertising is perfect for the company that wishes to advertise on a popular route. Whilst often best suited to those with a large marketing budget, it’s the ideal way to achieve maximum impact.
Bus Ticket Advertising
As more and more passengers go digital with their tickets, this form of bus advertising is slowly fading out. However, there are still a lot of opportunities there on certain routes, particularly for companies who wish to advertise with lower investment.
For more info on The Bank’s bus interior advertising services, give us a call.
Bus Shelter
Like interior bus adverts, the options for bus shelter and street furniture advertising are growing all the time. Let’s look at the two main options for bus shelter advertising:
Classic
Found in shelters up and down the country, classic bus stop advertising campaigns focus on simple printed posters. The 6-sheet poster (1800 mm x 1200mm) is the common industry standard, though in larger bus shelters, bus depots, and train stations, the 16-sheet poster (3048mm x 2032mm) is sometimes found.
Digital
Digital bus shelter advertising is a more recent addition to the world of bus advertising. Unlike traditional poster adverts, digital ads are displayed on LED screens inside the bus shelters. These ad panels offer incredible options for engaging with your customers, with many units able to provide location-specific content accessed via the internet.
Whilst most commonly found in London and other major UK city spaces, digital bus advertising is sure to become more commonplace in the future. If your brand campaign has a high budget, digital shelter advertising is well worth your consideration.
For more info on The Bank’s bus shelter advertising services, give us a call, or click here.
The Design in Your Sign
One of the questions we hear most at The Bank is how to go about actually creatingvisual campaign materials. Naturally, if you’re investing time and money into developing a bus advert campaign, you want to make absolutely sure you have the best artwork possible!
The Bank’s design service is here to help! Our team of creative professionals have the tools, experience, and industry know-how to ensure your advertisement is perfect.
At all times, we look to the following questions:
Attention
You want your artwork to catch the attention and capture the imagination of all those who are exposed to it. While a full bus wrap makes it easier to get noticed, a creative designer can deliver inspiring digital media for any display option.
Promotion
Does the artwork paint your brand in the right light? There are many printed media formats available, but you want to make sure the method of advertising is right for your company and its image.
Execution
Is your advert trying to promote a specific product? Maybe you want to build traffic for your website? Perhaps you just want to tell customers your brand messages? Whatever your goals, our designers will strive to ensure they are achieved—we never go for style over substance!
The Bank: For All Your Bus Ads Needs!
As you can see, advertising on buses can offer brands promotion and awareness-building opportunities like nothing else. At The Bank, we are the agency of choice for businesses of all sizes: from the local startup to the national chain, The Bank take a bespoke approach to all our bus and public transport advertising campaigns.
Strategy
We take a collaborative approach to strategy-building, working closely with you or your marketing team to understand your aims, your needs, your expectations, and your budget. We will give you our industry-beating advice and recommendations, ensuring your campaigns yield the results your company deserves.
Location
Our small team have developed route research and locality analysis strategies that you won’t find anywhere else. We provide precise geographic targeting services to clients across the UK, ensuring your vehicle or shelter advertisements are seen by high levels of passengers, pedestrians, and motorists.
Value
Retaining the media buying services of The Bank is an investment, and we are dedicated to ensuring that investment is a good one. We pride ourselves on taking a responsive and flexible approach, providing the highest levels of service to all our clients, no matter their size or budget.
The Bank: Your New Ad Agency
Contact us today to discuss your bus advertising campaign. We can’t wait to get started!
